Kukushkin, Basilashvili advance to Memphis Open semifinal

Mikhail Kukushkin, of Kazakhstan, returns a shot to Steve Johnson in a quarterfinal at the Memphis Open tennis tournament Friday, Feb. 17, 2017, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Mark Humphrey

February 17, 2017

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan upset fourth-seeded Steve Johnson 6-0, 6-4 on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Memphis Open, needing only 70 minutes to advance to the semifinals.

Kukushkin will play Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia on Saturday. Basilashvili, who upset top-seeded Ivo Karlovic in the second round, reached his second straight ATP Tour semifinal by beating qualifier Matthew Ebden of Australia 7-6 (3), 6-4.

No. 2 seed John Isner plays fellow American Donald Young on Friday night at The Racquet Club. The winner will play American Ryan Harrison or Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina in the other semifinal.

Johnson won his first career ATP title at Nottingham last summer and came into this event ranked 30th. Against Kukushkin, Johnson managed to save only one of the six break points he faced.

Basilashvili broke Ebden to finish off his match in 1 hour, 44 minutes.

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